


Ghosts

by wittynametbd



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 09:11:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9116836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wittynametbd/pseuds/wittynametbd
Summary: Finn, Poe, Rey, Leia, Luke, and BB-8 are each visited by a ghost of the Rogue One crew.Updated on 01/10/2017 (Woooo we're going places, fam!)(As of 01/10, the start of BB-8, Finn, Leia, and Rey's stories are complete! Sometime soon I'll get to Poe and Luke, and then on to Chapter 2!)





	

“There’s a forty-five percent chance you can’t see me,” a clear, crisp voice said.

 

BB-8 started, rolling a few feet back. No one else was in the hanger. Droids, rebels – even Poe, who usually pulled late nights – they’d all retreated to their quarters. The ships were empty, and the little droid had finally gotten some time to think. To be alone.

 

Only now there was someone else. A voice BB-8 wasn’t familiar with, though it was impossible to find the speaker.

 

“Hmm. It appears you’ve rolled right through me. Cassian thought that might happen.”

 

BB-8 whirled around, producing a small lighter from one of its front compartments as a figure materialized out of nowhere.

 

The _other_ droid – the one that spoke in more than beeps and sputters – was tall. The markings on its shoulder were unlike anything BB-8 had ever seen.

 

Well, until a quick scan showed that the strange droid once belonged to the Empire.

 

BB-8 let out a small yelp, rolling for the door.

 

“It won’t do you any good,” the Imperial droid called out. “Your friends are all occupied at the moment.”

 

BB-8 let out a series of beeps that – had C-3P0 been around – would’ve made the protocol droid faint from the sheer impropriety of it all.

 

But _this_ droid just tilted his head. “I haven’t been called _that_ in a very long time.” He crossed the room in three strides, kneeling next to the small droid. “My name is K-2S0. Long ago, I was an Imperial droid. And then the Rebel Alliance re-programmed me. When I died, I was on your side.” He shrugged. “I still am, if that makes any difference.”

 

The information was processed slowly, at first. And then all at once. _Cassian. Re-programmed droid. Death Star plans. Scariff._

“Yes. Scariff,” K-2S0 said. BB-8 couldn’t help but notice the sad lilt in the other droid’s words. “I’d rather not talk about that, if it’s all right with you.”

 

They sat in silence for a few moments, taking in the cool night air. The way bird calls rebounded off of the few ships the rebels managed to hang onto.

 

Finally, BB-8 asked a question. The words were quiet. Meant only for the other droid to hear.

 

“You want to know what it’s like to die?” K-2S0 asked.

BB-8 said nothing. Memories of being separated from Poe – of running away from the ambush on Jakku, and hearing all of those villagers scream as the First Order execute them – were the only things in the little droid’s processor.

 

“Very well.” K-2S0 sighed, when it was clear that his companion would not reply. “Death is an inevitability. Perhaps not quite for the likes of us, but for our friends…well. They’re so fragile. Surely you must’ve noticed that by now.”

 

BB-8 had, but still gave no response.

 

K-2S0 continued, speaking of things BB-8 always wondered about, but could never quite understand.

 

\---------

 

Finn was haunted. That had to be the only explanation. He’d woken up from the coma – or maybe he was still _in_ the coma – and now he was being followed around by ghosts.

 

He’d place a wrench down, leafing his way through an instruction manual on fighter engine assembly – and then said wrench would vanish. It happened over and over, with an assortment of tools. He’d been too ashamed to tell anyone about it. Sometimes, when he’d walk down the halls, the rebels gave him extra room to get by. They wouldn’t look him in the eyes, or return a smile.

 

Poe stood up for him when he saw it, but he couldn’t be with Finn all the time. He’d have to figure out a way to gain their trust on his own.

 

 _You’d think saving them from being blown up would be enough_ , he mused.

 

“It doesn’t matter what they think,” someone said, as if he could hear Finn’s thoughts. The voice rang out from somewhere in the shadows of his quarters.

 

“H-hello?” Finn asked, immediately regretting how shaky his voice sounded. “Who’s there?”

 

A laugh – just as unsure as Finn’s voice – replied. “I don’t know if _there_ is the right word. Can I be _here_ if I’m not really _here_?”

 

“Okay,” Finn said, reminding himself that they were in _his_ quarters, surrounded by the few things _he_ owned. If the time came, there was a blaster under his pillow, and another one taped under the desk. “What do you want?”

 

“Well, when I was alive, I _wanted_ to do what’s right,” the stranger replied. “Do you?”

 

_Great. Someone else I have to prove myself to._

 

“Look,” Finn said, resisting the temptation to roll his eyes. “I’ve had a long day and don’t really need—”

But before he could finish the thought a wrench – his missing wrench – clattered to the floor. It was quickly followed by each of the tools he’d counted as lost over the past two weeks.

 

Someone not quite _here_ stepped out of the shadows. A light surrounded him, and at that moment Finn was _positive_ he was still in a coma.

 

The man was not much taller than him, and smiled widely at Finn’s undoubtedly confused expression. He held out a hand, though Finn was quite sure he wouldn’t actually be able to shake it.

 

“Name’s Rook. Bodhi Rook. Sorry about taking your things – I had to get your attention somehow.” Bodhi Rook’s smile widened, and Finn could’ve sworn that this strange man winked at him. “Actually, I could’ve gotten your attention lots of different ways. This one was just much more fun than the alternatives.”

 

Finn regarded the man – if a ghost could still be considered a man – wearily. He’d seen the things that haunted the Stormtroopers that came back from battle. The way some of them couldn’t sleep. The hollow looks in their eyes. Sometimes, they’d stare off into the shadows, whispering apologies, asking for forgiveness.

 

Before he left for Jakku, he wondered if the same fate would befall him. Now, as he looked at this stranger, he knew his answer.

 

Only he had nothing to apologize for.

 

“I agree,” said the ghost of Bodhi Rook. “You certainly don’t owe them anything.”

 

“Is that why you’re here?” Finn asked. “Did I make you up to feel better about myself?”

 

The man crossed the room, sitting on top of Finn’s desk. “Oh, I was very real, once. I assure you.” He adjusted the goggles that sat on top of his head, then proceeded to drum his fingers on a nearby book. Of course, his hands didn’t make contact with the cover. But that didn’t seem to stop him.

 

Bodhi Rook caught Finn’s gaze, and the newest Resistance Fighter couldn’t help but feel something familiar in the way he smiled.

 

“I’m not here to make you feel better about yourself,” the ghost finally said. “But I look at it as an added bonus.”

 

Finn shook his head, but felt the corners of his mouth pull into a small smile. It was going to be a long – and certainly interesting – night.

\-----------

Leia couldn’t sleep. It was never something she’d been good at. Even when she was young, she’d have horrible dreams. Later, she’d discover what they truly were: visions. Glimpses of what has been and what will be, given to her by The Force.

 

As a child, she’d never been able to make sense of them. Death, torture, suffering – all terrible, and all things she’d never experienced herself. But then she grew up. She left for Scariff and wound up with the Death Star plans.

 

At the time, she thought it a mere stroke of luck. She’d been delayed in getting to Obi-Wan Kenobi, but had faith that her father’s old R2 unit would get the job done. She had no way of knowing that Bail Organa’s trusty droid had actually belonged to her birth mother – Padmé Amidala.

 

Growing up, she’d heard stories of the senator from Naboo who fought tirelessly for justice and truth. Her father always grew sad whenever she asked about why the senator never came to visit.

 

She owed her father so much. Without Bail Organa’s compassion, kindness, and training, she wouldn’t be who she was today. She learned to find hope when all seemed lost – and, just like everyone else in the galaxy, she was no stranger to being pushed to her breaking point.

 

It was only after that fateful battle for Scariff that she understood her visions. Once she sent that little droid off on its quest, she’d experienced more than her fair share of the atrocities that hatred and fear had to offer.

 

“Some days, I wonder if we were merely put in this galaxy to suffer.” A gruff voice – a man’s voice – said, from somewhere to her right.

 

General Leia Organa could count only five times in her life in which she’d been genuinely surprised. But, upon turning quite slowly to face whoever had the audacity to sneak into her quarters, was quite bemused to have found moment number six.

 

She recognized the man, although she’d never had the occasion to meet him.

 

“Baze Malbus,” she said, leaning against a wall. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

 

Baze laughed, mimicking her pose. “I believe the pleasure is all mine, General. Though when I was alive you held a different title.”

 

“It was so long ago,” Leia said wistfully. “But I’m sad to say that not much has changed. We’re still fighting the same fight.” _And I’ve lost everyone I love the most_ , she thought.

 

The Force Ghost sighed. “I’m truly sorry for what’s been taken from you.”

 

“Me too.”

 

“But,” Baze continued, “you know better than most that war continues, losses or not.”

 

She raised an eyebrow at this. “I hardly needed the reminder.” Her thoughts drifted to her son – bent and twisted by the Dark Side. Her husband, dead and falling, still falling, toward a ground that would never appear. And her brother, alone for so long.

 

Baze smiled. “Ah yes, your brother. He’s part of the reason I’m here.”

 

 _Of course_. Leia should’ve known that, if the Force was involved, Luke would have something to do with it.

 

“Oh no,” the ghost said. “Your brother did not summon me. I’m not a messenger. More like… a conduit. When the time comes, you’ll have a short window to speak with him.”

 

Leia’s feelings soared at the notion of speaking with her brother, but were quickly grounded as questions flooded her mind.

 

“How would any of that be possible?” she asked, clinging on to that stubborn bit of hope that’d gotten her through more heartache than anyone should bear.

 

“The Force,” Baze replied with a shrug. “It’s mysterious, works in ways we can never understand, blah blah blah.” He laughed. “Does it really matter if it makes sense? The _how_ isn’t what you should be wondering about.”

 

Leia let that sink in for a moment, and then, to her surprise, chuckled. “ _Why_ are you here, Baze Malbus?”

 

The man’s smile widened. “Well, you’ve guessed at _some_ of the answer.”

 

“Luke,” Leia whispered, wrangling the bit of hope that was trying to break free. She wanted desperately to speak with her brother – and she trusted the ghost’s word that it would be done – but there was something else. Something she couldn’t quite pin down.

 

“Have you figured it out yet?” Baze asked with a wink.

 

“I…” Leia faltered, unsure if she could say the words out loud. But she also wasn’t sure when she’d get another opportunity like this one, and she was not about to waste her chance.

 

She nodded, meeting his gaze. “I know who you were before Scariff. A Guardian of the Whills who lost his faith.”

 

“I did. And then I got it back. Perhaps a little last minute, but…” his voice trailed away, and he shrugged.

 

“What changed?”

 

“I lost someone who meant the world to me. A dreamer who was foolish enough to keep believing.”

 

“I know a few of them.”

 

“General, if you don’t mind me saying, you _are_ one of them.”

 

She frowned. “That’s what I’d always thought. But now… it keeps getting harder to believe in something that’s taken so much from me.”

 

She didn’t like how the words sounded as they left her mouth. She’d been holding those feelings in for so long, and now that they’d come toppling out she wasn’t sure what to do with them.

 

Baze shifted slightly. “I felt the same way, too. For a very long time.”

 

“And you’re here to talk me out of it?”

 

“Oh, no. I’m here to talk to you _about_ it.”

 

And with that, the Force Ghost said no more. He waited for Leia to begin.

 

Which she did, after a few long moments of collecting her thoughts.

 

\----------

 

Rey thought she’d be better at meditation. She was no stranger to silence, after all. Living on her own for so long, she’d learned to treat it like an old friend. She welcomed it when she was rummaging through old ships, or speeding back to town under the burning desert sun. It sat with her when she prepared the meals she bartered for, or when she watched ships fly off toward the horizon.

 

She was used to silence. It was the tiny matter of having to concentrate on something that was throwing her off.

 

Rey frowned, trying to clear her mind for the third time today. She had no idea what she was supposed to be concentrating on. Luke Skywalker, who was most certainly not a myth, said that meditation was one of the ways that Jedi began to understand The Force – and that she would come to make sense of it as well.

 

But here she was, sitting so that she stared out at a wide expanse of sea, listening to the waves crash into the cliffside and retreat, crash and retreat. On and on the song went, joined occasionally by the whistle of the wind as it blew around her. These things were supposed to help her let go – to move away from everything that troubled her, and connect with something that, until recently, she’d written off as a fairy tale. Remnants of a bygone era, bedtime stories that were exaggerated as lessons to children.

 

Not that she’d had many people tell her bedtime.

 

She let out a frustrated sigh. Maybe she just wasn’t cut out for the whole Jedi thing. She’d be better off just packing up and heading back to Jakku.

 

“You don’t really mean that,” someone said, as if they were sitting right next to her.

 

Rey tensed. That voice _definitely_ wasn’t Master Luke’s.

 

The stranger laughed. “I hoped you’d be able to tell the difference. I’m certainly not a Jedi – though I see that you are.”

 

“Close,” Rey replied, turning to face her visitor. She blinked a few times, unsure if she was dreaming.

 

A woman sat down next to her, looking out at the sea. She couldn’t have been much older than Rey, though she also didn’t seem to be… _alive_.

 

“I believe it’s a side effect of dying,” the stranger said.

 

“What?” Rey asked, unhappy with how sharp her voice sounded.

 

“I’m Jyn,” she replied instead. “Jyn Erso.”

 

“Rey.”

 

“Sorry if I startled you.”

 

Rey shrugged. This woman – Jyn – wasn’t the first oddity that The Force had shown her, and she probably wouldn’t be the last.

 

Jyn frowned, keeping her gaze toward the sea. “Unfortunately, you might be right about that one.”

 

“You’re just going to keep reading my thoughts, aren’t you?”

 

This made her visitor smile. “Benefit of being on _this_ side of The Force. Though having that ability when I was alive would’ve made things _much_ easier.”

 

Jyn’s warm expression turned to stone right after she said it.

 

“I’m… sorry?” Rey wasn’t sure what else to say. It was as if Jyn was off in some distant memory, re-living –

 

“Re-living the worst moments of my life?” Jyn said, finishing the thought for her. “The past is a difficult thing to let go. Even in death.”

Rey nodded, though she wasn’t quite sure she agreed. So much of her past was still a mystery. Sure, she had plenty to remember when it came to salvaging ships in the desert, or practicing with her repurposed flight simulator. But she’d yet to unravel the events that led her to being abandoned on Jakku. The meditation was _supposed_ to be helping with that and yet, here she was, speaking to the spirit of someone she never knew.

 

“You could stand to sound a little more excited,” Jyn said. “You’re speaking to a relic, you know.

 

Rey hardly thought she qualified as a relic. Luke told her many stories of the Old Republic, and the Clone Wars. Things he’d spent time learning after he helped to defeat the Empire.

 

“Ah, yes. The Empire. I understand they’re called something else now?”

 

“The First Order,” Rey replied.

 

“The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

 

“You were part of the Rebellion?”

 

“Not until the end,” Jyn said. “Sadly.”

 

“What happened?”

 

At this, Rey’s visitor _finally_ turned to face her. “I met a group of people who helped me find what I lost.”

 

“Which was?”

 

Jyn blinked, then shifted so that she looked out at the sea once more. “I think you know the answer to your own question.”

 

Rey’s heart pounded a frantic rhythm. She allowed herself a small laugh. Meditation was supposed to be relaxing, and here she was, reacting as if she’d just run up twenty flights of stairs. It took her a moment to form the right words, though she’d longed for that very thing for as long as she could remember.

 

“Family,” she finally said.

 

Jyn nodded. “I thought… I thought my father was the only family I had left. But the people who helped me find him – the ones who came back for me – they were my family, too.”

 

She met Rey’s gaze for the second time. “Well, I suppose they still _are_ my family. Tenses are a strange thing to work out now. We were, we are, and we will be a family.”

 

Rey’s heart sank as thoughts of her own family pushed their way to the front of her mind. Of Finn, who’d been so brave, and who always came back for her. Poe and Leia, who she’d met briefly, but made sure she had what she needed to find Luke – and Luke, who was trying his best to train her. Chewbacca and R2, who journeyed across the galaxy with her. And Han, who helped them without a second thought, though he paid a price for his kindness.

 

They were her family now, too. Though not all of them were with her anymore.

 

Jyn gave her a light shove on the shoulder. Or, the Force Ghost would have, if she’d been able to touch anything. Instead, her arm just sort of passed through Rey.

 

The spirit shrugged it off as if nothing unusual happened, then went back to watching the sea.

 

“I’m disappointed, Little Jedi. It’s like you haven’t listened to a thing I’ve said.”

 

Rey was about to defend herself, but Jyn continued before she got the chance. “Just because someone dies, it doesn’t mean they leave you. It just takes a little more effort to find them.”

 

“But what if they don’t want to be found?” Rey asked, thinking of whoever left her behind on Jakku.

 

“Then you’ll have to learn to let go of the things you don’t have,” Jyn replied. “And prepare yourself to fight for what you _do_ have.”

 

“And that’s what you did?” Rey asked, not bothering to keep the skepticism out of her voice.

 

“Not until the end,” Jyn said. “Sadly. But you’re not me.”

 

Rey let that thought linger as she stared out at the water. “How long will you be here?”

 

“I was, am, and will be here, always. That’s kind of how this works.”

 

“But it’s not what I meant.”

 

Jyn sighed. “Not long enough, apparently.”

\----------

 


End file.
